Charmaine B.

Bramida Page | 1

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

Growing up in the Philippines, I could say that I was able to taste a fraction of the

beauty of Japanese culturefrom watching Doraemon and Dragon Ball Z in elementary; to

Hanayori Dango and peeks-between-my-hands scenes of The Ring and The Grudge in high

school; to reading the beautiful haikus of Kobayashi Issa, Yosa Buson, and Matsuo Basho in

college. But before that fateful day of November 08, 2013, I had nothing but these things to

relate myself to the Japanese culture.

When typhoon Haiyan came to destroy the beloved city I grew up in, I had Hiroshima

and Nagasaki in my thoughts. I have lived through one of, if not the cruellest typhoon in

recorded history; and Japan has survived one of the most tragic and heart-breaking human-

made events in the world. I feel like Japan and I have that in commonwe are both

survivors. This is one of the reasons why l have always had this fascination about Japan. I

have often wondered how this nation, a country that, despite having been almost torn to

shreds during the world wars and a victim of different earth-shattering calamities as well, has

come to emerge as one of the strongest in the world.

I have found the answer in its people: their irrepressible virtue of discipline and

honesty and sincere regard to others. The sense of shared destiny that the Japanese has is

something that I really want to experience. Immersing myself in the richness of Japanese

culturewhere tradition and technology harmoniously co-exists with each otheras an ALT

would allow me to have something substantial to impart to others through my lessons,

professional gatherings, or even just casual conversations back here in the Philippines.

Upon saying that, I also would like to think that I too have a handful to offer. I believe

Filipinos also have a lot of positive traits and unique culture that the Japanese people would

be glad to experience through me, hopefully. Additionally, I have had significant experiences

in engaging with other cultures in relation to teaching English that are relevant to the JET
 Charmaine B. Bramida Page | 2

programme goalsEnglish Education and Internationalization. Back in college, I was one of

the few lucky buddies (student language partners) who helped facilitate our universitys

Globalization Training Programme for Koreans for 3 consecutive batches. I was also part of

the pioneering batch of our unis Student Internship Abroad Programme (SIAP) back in 2014,

had our internship as student teachers in Thai Nguyen University School of Foreign

Languages in Thai Nguyen, Vietnam, and successfully completed it in two months.

These experiences not only allowed me to extend my social kinship to an international

level, but it also gave me the opportunity to learn and gain a lot of insight from our

neighbouring Asian countries and other cultures in general. I was able to establish a deeper

appreciation for diversity. It also developed my ability to adapt to environments where

communication was a big challenge. Naturally, it also informed my teaching of English to

FLLs. I believe these experiences will help me be an effective ALT.

Personally, I want to seek out an experience that will inspire and benefit not only me

but especially other people regardless of creed, race, or gender; something I am passionate

about that will give me fulfilment in a universal sense. Having worked with different cultures

developed a high regard for diversity in me. Discrimination is something that I do not

advocate for and I want to imbibe respect and acceptance in the lives that I touch as a teacher.

I really am aspiring to work in a non-profit organization that helps bring literacy to

less fortunate children. These types of learners dont always get the opportunity to understand

different races and establish respect for other cultures. I feel that the JET programme will

give me a great opportunity to do that. I strongly believe that working with other cultures is

one step towards world peacea dream I share with you, I hope.